Andrés Martinez (editor)

Andrés Martinez (born c.1966) was editorial page editor of the "Los Angeles Times" from September 2004 through March 22, 2007.

A native of Mexico, Martinez studied history at Yale University, graduating cum laude, and subsequently received a master's degree in Russian history from Stanford University and a law degree from Columbia University, where he served on Law Review. After law school, Martinez practiced communications law in Washington, D.C. and served as a law clerk for a federal district judge in Dallas.

Switching to journalism, Martinez worked as a reporter for "The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette", where he joined the editorial board in September 1995. He also worked as a reporter for the Wall Street Journal before becoming an editorial writer at "The New York Times" in the summer of 2000. There, he served as assistant editorial page editor and a member of the editorial board, and it was for work done there that he was a 2004 Pulitzer Prize finalist for editorial writing. After moving to the L.A. Times in September 2004, Martinez's duties were expanded to include oversight of the op-ed page and "Sunday Current," in addition to his responsibilities for the editorial page, upon the October 2005 resignation from the paper of Michael Kinsley, who had served as editorial and opinion editor.

Martinez resigned from the Los Angeles Times in the wake of a scandal involving the selection of Hollywood producer Brian Grazer as the first in a quarterly series of "Sunday Current" guest editors. When it was publicly revealed that Martinez was romantically involved with a public relations executive who had previously represented Grazer, publisher David Hiller decided to cancel the section only three days prior to its planned publication. Interpreting this move as a sign of "no confidence" in his editorial judgment, Martinez resigned. [http://opinion.latimes.com/opinionla/2007/03/grazergate_the_.html]

Personal life

He is the son of Jeanette B. Martinez of Boston and Alfredo Martinez Urdal of Mexico City, the former chief executive of Coca-Cola FEMSA, a botftling company in Mexico City, who died in September 2004 after a long illness. In 1995, Martinez married Katherine Collins Hall, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel M. Hall of Greenwich, Conn. At the time, Ms. Hall was an associate at Kirkpatrick & Lockhart, a law firm in Pittsburgh. She graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University and received a law degree from Columbia University. Her father is the president of Computer Output Systems, a laser printing company in Stamford, Conn. Her mother, Judith Hall, is the vice president of [http://www.hallsreports.com/ Hall's Magazine Reports] , a research service in Stamford.

As a part of the scandal leading to his resignation from the L.A. Times, Martinez publicly admitted a romantic relationship with Kelly Mullens, a public relations executive. Martinez is presently separated from his wife and in the middle of divorce proceedings, but reportedly did not begin dating Mullens until after he and his wife split. ["An LA Times Affair: Romance Between Editorial Editor And Hollywood Flack Helps Showbiz Producer Grazer Get Guest-Edit Gig; Now Publisher May Not Print This Sunday's Opinion Section", Deadline Hollywood Daily, retrieved March 22, 2007 [http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/scandal-over-grazers-lat-guest-editor-gig/] ]

Bibliography

* "24/7: Living it Up and Doubling Down in the New Las Vegas" (Villard 1999)
* [http://www.nytimes.com/ref/opinion/harvesting-poverty.html?pagewanted "Harvesting Poverty," a series of "N.Y. Times" editorials on the plight of farmers in developing nations (August through December 2003)]

Notes

External links and references

* [http://www.writenews.com/wnews.php?zone=1025051 Andres Martinez to Oversee L.A. Times Op-ed Page]
* [http://opinion.latimes.com/opinionla/2007/03/grazergate_the_.html Grazergate, the episode] - Martinez's public letter upon resignation
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE6DC1738F93BA25755C0A963958260 WEDDINGS; Katherine Hall and Andres Martinez, ]
* [http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=129294 FEMSA Bids Farewell to Alfredo Martinez Urdal]
* [http://www.avclub.com/content/node/19536 Review of "24/7: Living it Up and Doubling Down in the New Las Vegas" in The Onion's A.V. Club]
* [http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-andres23mar23,1,5507287.story?coll=la-headlines-business&ctrack=1&cset=true Editor resigns over killed opinion section]